When things affect us personally, we crave to understand them. To wit, economics became a much sexier topic than ever before during the recession, as almost everyone was either affected by it personally or was no more than a single degree of separation away from someone else who was. But the reality is that economics affect us every day, whether or not we are in financial distress or aware of the topic.

To the extent that we spend our time shopping, planning for retirement and working, we spend our time participating in the economy. Understanding the science of economics, then, is an essential element of the smart person’s quest for knowledge — no matter where the market is at, or headed. But without the personal distress element, it’s tough for economics to pique our Web-and-TV-disabled attention and interest.